Wizards use big opening quarter to never trail in victory over 76ers

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Sarr scored 24 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 119-114 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night that snapped a five-game skid.

Justin Champagnie added 18 points while shooting 4 for 6 from 3-point range and had 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who won for the third time in their last 10 games.

Quentin Grimes scored 22 points for the 76ers, who dropped their sixth straight. Guerschon Yabusele added 21 points and eight rebounds.

Champagnie scored 16 points in the first half for the Wizards, who led 67-58 at halftime.

Washington went on an 11-0 run in the third quarter to extend its lead to 89-71 with 2:48 left in the period. Tristan Vukcevic scored a team-high 11 second-half points as the Wizards were outscored by four points over the final two quarters, but still held on to win.

Takeaways

Wizards: Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, has now scored at least 19 points in six of his last eight games.

76ers: One encouraging sign for Philadelphia was the continued production from Grimes, who has scored at least 22 points in nine straight games. His 22-point performance Wednesday was actually his lowest total since March 6, when he had six points in a 123-105 loss at Boston.

Key moment

Champagnie, Sarr and Jordan Poole sank 3-pointers during a 10-0 run in the opening minutes that gave Washington a 10-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Wizards led 45-29 by the end of the first quarter. It was the most points allowed by the 76ers in the opening quarter this season.

Key stat

The Wizards outscored the 76ers by 12 points on 3-pointers, making 18 compared to 14 for the 76ers. Nine of those for Washington came in the first quarter, the most for the Wizards in any quarter this season.

Up next

Wizards: Begin a five-game homestand Thursday against Indiana.

76ers: Host the Miami Heat on Saturday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.